NHL playoff teams add their own twists to post game rituals

After every NHL contest fans see the selection of the game's three stars, which are generally predictable. There's likely a goalie, probably the guy who scored the game winner, maybe the guy who totalled the most points.

In the locker room, opinions on the game's best players rarely align with the ones announced publicly. The players know who excelled with a tough assignment, they know who followed the game plan best, they know who really brought it despite playing through an injury.

And so, a new ritual was born: the team-awarded game MVP. Whoever won it after the last win (it only gets handed out after a "W") gets to say a few words and explain why he's selecting the team's latest "first star."

The items handed out are generally unique to the city of the team, and the boys have some fun with it. Below are a handful examples from the remaining NHL teams.

New York Rangers

New York is home to Broadway - arguably the most illustrious area of theatre in the entire world - and the Rangers are paying homage to the district in their postgame locker room celebrations by handing out the Broadway hat to the team's most outstanding player of the night.

Washington Capitals

Similar to their competitors in the second round of the playoffs, the Capitals are also handing out a hat, with another small addition.

Washington is honoring Abraham Lincoln by handing out a bowler hat and beard to top player of the night. 

Anaheim Ducks

The Western Conference champions aren't handing out old Mighty Ducks jerseys to their star performer of the night. Instead, they're handing out a fireman's helmet to the most 'workman-like player of the night.'

(Courtesy: NHL.com)

Anaheim has also been provided with other kind's of support from local fireman.

Calgary Flames

Coincidentally, the Flames are also handing out a fireman's helmet in postgame celebrations.

Unlike their opponents in the second round, the helmet seems more fitting for Calgary. Although, it can be argued that firemen actually extinguish Flames, so the choice may not be the best one.

(Courtesy: NHL.com)

Chicago Blackhawks

The Blackhawks have won the Stanley Cup twice since 2009-10 and have been channeling their inner John Cena during their postgame celebrations, passing out a championship belt to top dog of the night. 

All of those are great and all, though we'd argue there's a new ritual that would be worth adopting for the Montreal Canadiens that might be even better. 

Can we make "star player gets the silent treatment" a thing?